My thoughts: Gus’ team is auto-drafted and heavy on contenders. Scary stuff, but goaltending might just be his undoing, with two backups. (Rask could make things interesting if something happens with Tim Thomas, though.)

Corey Abbott

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Type

1

2

Evgeni Malkin

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

2

19

Jimmy Howard

G

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

3

22

Pascal Dupuis

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

4

39

Chris Kunitz

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

5

42

Brian Elliott

G

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

6

59

Kevin Bieksa

D

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

7

62

Kevin Shattenkirk

D

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

8

79

Shane Doan

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

9

82

Tyler Kennedy

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

10

99

Niklas Kronwall

D

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

11

102

Patrik Berglund

F

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

12

119

David Clarkson

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

13

122

Dustin Brown

F

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

14

139

Dave Bolland

F

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

15

142

Jakub Voracek

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

16

159

Mike Green

D

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

17

162

Danny Cleary

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

18

179

Jordin Tootoo

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

19

182

Johan Hedberg

G

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

20

199

Arron Asham

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

Corey’s explanation:

“I went into the draft with Penguins on the brain and when I saw had the second overall pick, which would mean I could get Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, I wanted to select complementary players to go with them. Goalies went fast so I chose Jimmy Howard, and a few other Red Wings, even though I have my doubts about their success against Nashville. My final eight picks were mostly value-based, as this is a deep draft and there aren't enough players to go around. I was pleased to get Dustin Brown in the 13th round. In addition to him, Mike Green in the 16th round, 159th overall, and Daniel Cleary, 162nd overall, have the ability to produce as well and could bring some late-addition scoring to my squad.”

Jared Ostroff

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

3

Henrik Lundqvist

G

New York Rangers

MANUAL

2

18

Brad Richards

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

3

23

Zach Parise

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

4

38

Ray Whitney

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

5

43

Radim Vrbata

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

6

58

Patrick Kane

F

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

7

63

Marian Hossa

F

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

8

78

Keith Yandle

D

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

9

83

Martin Hanzal

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

10

98

Valtteri Filppula

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

11

103

Duncan Keith

D

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

12

118

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

D

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

13

123

Jiri Hudler

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

14

138

Scott Clemmensen

G

Florida Panthers

MANUAL

15

143

Antoine Vermette

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

16

158

Gilbert Brule

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

17

163

Viktor Stalberg

F

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

18

178

Brandon Prust

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

19

183

Maxime Talbot

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

20

198

Ruslan Fedotenko

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

My thoughts: Jared has a strong team that follows the “pick teams and run with it” model. The only issue might be that the Blackhawks and Coyotes might cancel each other out. Then again, with free agency, he can fill some of the holes.

My team

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

4

Roberto Luongo

G

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

2

17

Ilya Kovalchuk

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

3

24

Alex Pietrangelo

D

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

4

37

Corey Crawford

G

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

5

44

David Krejci

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

6

57

Danny Briere

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

7

64

Michael Del Zotto

D

New York Rangers

MANUAL

8

77

Erik Karlsson

D

Ottawa Senators

MANUAL

9

84

Jaromir Jagr

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

10

97

Alexander Semin

F

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

11

104

Patric Hornqvist

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

12

117

Chris Stewart

F

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

13

124

Mike Richards

F

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

14

137

Sergei Kostitsyn

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

15

144

Sergei Bobrovsky

G

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

16

157

Brent Seabrook

D

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

17

164

Sean Couturier

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

18

177

Dennis Wideman

D

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

19

184

Jamie Langenbrunner

F

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

20

197

Tomas Holmstrom

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

Michael Finewax

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

5

Marian Gaborik

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

2

16

Jaroslav Halak

G

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

3

25

Martin Brodeur

G

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

4

36

Ryan Callahan

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

5

45

David Backes

F

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

6

56

Alexander Edler

D

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

7

65

Carl Hagelin

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

8

76

Ryan Suter

D

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

9

85

Ryan McDonagh

D

New York Rangers

MANUAL

10

96

David Booth

F

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

11

105

Jason Arnott

F

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

12

116

Travis Zajac

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

13

125

Mason Raymond

F

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

14

136

Sami Salo

D

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

15

145

Zack Kassian

F

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

16

156

Marc Staal

D

New York Rangers

MANUAL

17

165

Nicklas Backstrom

F

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

18

176

Kris Russell

D

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

19

185

Maxim Lapierre

F

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

20

196

Mike Rupp

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

Finewax’s explanation: My draft strategy was to get one of Henrik Lundqvist or Roberto Luongo as I thought the Canucks and Rangers are going to meet in the Cup finals. When that didn't happen, I went to Jaroslav Halak and Martin Brodeur in the second and third rounds as I thought that hopefully having two goalies go past the first round was good strategy. My best value pick was Nicklas Backstrom in the 17th round (165th overall), especially since Alex Ovechkin went 54th overall. I have six Canucks, six Rangers and four Blues. If two of those teams go to the Cup final, I'm sitting pretty.

Editor’s note: Backstrom has to be the steal of the draft.

Jimmy Hascup

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

6

Claude Giroux

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

2

15

Jonathan Quick

G

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

3

26

Mike Smith

G

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

4

35

Jonathan Toews

F

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

5

46

David Perron

F

St. Louis Blues

MANUAL

6

55

Shea Weber

D

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

7

66

Anze Kopitar

F

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

8

75

Logan Couture

F

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

9

86

Braden Holtby

G

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

10

95

Brandon Dubinsky

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

11

106

Brian Campbell

D

Florida Panthers

MANUAL

12

115

Drew Doughty

D

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

13

126

Jeff Carter

F

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

14

135

Dan Girardi

D

New York Rangers

MANUAL

15

146

Brian Boyle

F

New York Rangers

MANUAL

16

155

Justin Williams

F

Los Angeles Kings

MANUAL

17

166

Brayden Schenn

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

18

175

Kyle Turris

F

Ottawa Senators

MANUAL

19

186

Anton Stralman

D

New York Rangers

MANUAL

20

195

Paul Gaustad

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

My thoughts: Jimmy’s roster is chock full of value – especially if the Pacific Division teams handle themselves well in the postseason.

Marc Lapierre

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

7

Marc-Andre Fleury

G

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

2

14

Pekka Rinne

G

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

3

27

Jordan Staal

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

4

34

Antti Niemi

G

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

5

47

Steve Sullivan

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

6

54

Alex Ovechkin

F

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

7

67

Joe Thornton

F

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

8

74

Craig Anderson

G

Ottawa Senators

MANUAL

9

87

Matt Cooke

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

10

94

Paul Martin

D

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

11

107

Matt Niskanen

D

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

12

114

Michal Neuvirth

G

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

13

127

Dan Hamhuis

D

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

14

134

Adam Henrique

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

15

147

Petr Sykora

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

16

154

Andrei Kostitsyn

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

17

167

Brooks Laich

F

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

18

174

Craig Smith

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

19

187

Marcus Johansson

F

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

20

194

Mathieu Perreault

F

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

Marc’s explanation: This might seem about as basic as it gets but it’s essential to know the unique characteristics of your league's scoring system as this will affect not only how you draft and who you pick but also how you set your lineup. NHL playoff pools are more about picking teams than players, but with our scoring system and league configuration, I decided to load up on goaltenders and hopefully take advantage of the daily transactions setting to accumulate a lot of points early between the pipes. Like everyone else participating tonight, my other goal was to target players on teams that I think will go deep in the playoffs and decided to go Pittsburgh in the East and Nashville in the West.

Brian Rosenbaum

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

8

Tim Thomas

G

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

2

13

Pavel Datsyuk

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

3

28

Zdeno Chara

D

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

4

33

Milan Lucic

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

5

48

Johan Franzen

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

6

53

Nicklas Lidstrom

D

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

7

68

Joe Pavelski

F

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

8

73

Patrick Marleau

F

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

9

88

Dan Boyle

D

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

10

93

Martin Havlat

F

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

11

108

Ryane Clowe

F

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

12

113

Brent Burns

D

San Jose Sharks

MANUAL

13

128

Todd Bertuzzi

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

14

133

Dainius Zubrus

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

15

148

Ray Emery

G

Chicago Blackhawks

MANUAL

16

153

Marek Zidlicky

D

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

17

168

Brian Rolston

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

18

173

Alexei Ponikarovsky

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

19

188

Dennis Seidenberg

D

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

20

193

Darren Helm

F

Detroit Red Wings

MANUAL

My take: Boy, that’s a formidable team, isn’t it? Rosenbaum loaded up on quality players from quality teams, with the only conceivable issue being perhaps that Ray Emery might not bring much value as a second goalie. How many people have a full rotation of netminders anyway, though?

Kevin Brown

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

9

Daniel Sedin

F

Vancouver Canucks

AUTO

2

12

Henrik Sedin

F

Vancouver Canucks

AUTO

3

29

Ryan Kesler

F

Vancouver Canucks

AUTO

4

32

Cory Schneider

G

Vancouver Canucks

AUTO

5

49

Alexandre Burrows

F

Vancouver Canucks

AUTO

6

52

Patrick Sharp

F

Chicago Blackhawks

AUTO

7

69

Derek Stepan

F

New York Rangers

AUTO

8

72

Chris Higgins

F

Vancouver Canucks

AUTO

9

89

Kris Versteeg

F

Florida Panthers

AUTO

10

92

Jose Theodore

G

Florida Panthers

AUTO

11

109

Tomas Fleischmann

F

Florida Panthers

AUTO

12

112

Stephen Weiss

F

Florida Panthers

AUTO

13

129

Milan Michalek

F

Ottawa Senators

AUTO

14

132

Daniel Alfredsson

F

Ottawa Senators

AUTO

15

149

Sean Bergenheim

F

Florida Panthers

AUTO

16

152

Andrew Shaw

F

Chicago Blackhawks

AUTO

17

169

Jason Garrison

D

Florida Panthers

AUTO

18

172

Johnny Boychuk

D

Boston Bruins

AUTO

19

189

Dmitry Kulikov

D

Florida Panthers

MANUAL

20

192

Marc-Andre Gragnani

D

Vancouver Canucks

MANUAL

Kevin’s explanation: The strategy for playoff pools is simple - pick a couple of teams you feel comfortable with and load up as much as you can. By the time I picked in the first round, the best Penguins had already been taken so I turned my attention westward to Vancouver. After filling my roster with Canucks, I looked for value in the Eastern Conference and found the Panthers roster virtually untouched so I chose some of their top players and will now hope for an upset over the Devils, which is certainly possible given the fact they have home-ice advantage in the series.

Ryan Dadoun

Round

Pick

Player Name

Pos

Team

Pick Type

1

10

James Neal

F

Pittsburgh Penguins

MANUAL

2

11

Tyler Seguin

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

3

30

Ilya Bryzgalov

G

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

4

31

Brad Marchand

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

5

50

Patrice Bergeron

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

6

51

Scott Hartnell

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

7

70

Patrik Elias

F

New Jersey Devils

MANUAL

8

71

Alexander Radulov

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

9

90

Kimmo Timonen

D

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

10

91

Matt Carle

D

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

11

110

David Legwand

F

Nashville Predators

MANUAL

12

111

Wayne Simmonds

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

13

130

Andrew Ference

D

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

14

131

Benoit Pouliot

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

15

150

Tomas Vokoun

G

Washington Capitals

MANUAL

16

151

Matt Read

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

17

170

Lauri Korpikoski

F

Phoenix Coyotes

MANUAL

18

171

Jordan Caron

F

Boston Bruins

MANUAL

19

190

Sergei Gonchar

D

Ottawa Senators

MANUAL

20

191

James van Riemsdyk

F

Philadelphia Flyers

MANUAL

Ryan’s explanation: I went into this draft with one goal: Draft a goaltender in the first round before all the good ones are taken. Unfortunately, I got stuck with the last pick and, knowing my competition knows the value of a good goaltender, I immediately tossed out my plan. The big four in my mind - Luongo, Thomas, Lundqvist, and Fleury - all got scooped up before my first pick, so I decided to just grab the two best players available from the two teams most likely to go far: James Neal and Tyler Seguin. From there, because it would be so long before my next pick, my basic strategy was just to see what everyone else did. At this point I was searching for two or maybe three teams I could focus on. The goalies continued to be grabbed at a brisk pace, so when I finally got to go again, I took the best one still available - Ilya Bryzgalov - as well as Brad Marchand. With Bryzgalov on my team, I instantly became a Flyers fan and drafted accordingly. My fallback teams were Boston and, to a much lesser extent, Nashville. On rare exceptions, I deviated from those three to take a player I felt had gone undrafted for too long, such as Patrik Elias with the 70th overall pick.

Overall, I'm not too unhappy with the teams I ended up leaning towards. Philadelphia and Nashville are considered risks and consequently, a fair number of their better players were available later. At the same time, they're both teams with a legitimate shot of moving forward. Boston is regarded as a safer bet, so by the time we got into the mid-to-late rounds, they had pretty much been picked clean, but I still got a couple of their better players like Seguin, Marchand, and Seguin. If playoff pools, I usually build teams to come in either first or last depending on if my primary gamble pays off. This team isn't that much of an extreme, but it does have that sort of sentiment. Overall, I'm okay with my team, but at the same time, my goaltending is a mess and that flaw will be tough to overcome.

****

Hopefully this little draft acts as a Mock Draft of sorts for you. Don't make fun of my picks too much in the comments, though.